Walmart to make first direct pitch to big corporate ad buyers at New York event by Nandita Bose at Reuters. “Walmart Inc will meet large consumer goods companies and advertising firms for the first time in New York next week to pitch its advertising business…It is likely to be attended by hundreds of companies ranging from Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Coca Cola to Mattel, Glaxosmithkline and NBC Universal…”Read more

…Stein Mart will install Amazon Hub lockers in nearly 200 stores as soon as next month by Sarah Perez at TechCrunch. “Stein Mart shares jumped 45% after the Amazon deal was announced.”Read more

**The 2019 Sweets & Snacks Expo is Happening Now! More than 800 exhibitors, including 200+ first time exhibitors.Press release

Jeff Bezos shows enthusiasm for auto industry at all-hands meeting by James Thorne at GeekWire. “If you think about the auto industry right now, there’s so many things going on with Uber-ization, electrification, the connected car — so it’s a fascinating industry,” Bezos said according to a recording of the meeting CNBC has heard. “It’s going to be something very interesting to watch and participate in, and I’m very excited about that whole industry.”Read more

Ex-Macy’s Chief Merchandising Officer Named Express CEO “(Timothy) Baxter was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Delta Galil Premium Brands…Prior to that, he spent 26 years with Macy’s, Inc. and the former May Department Stores in various roles…”Press release

Kohl’s cutting prices and increasing promotions to preserve market share by Rick Rommel at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA Today. “We know our customers are driven by value, and so we’re going to make the necessary changes to pricing and promotion to help drive that,” Bruce Besanko, Kohl’s chief financial officer, told analysts on a conference call. “We’re not going to lose out, as a consequence of pricing, to competitors.”Read more

Brazil’s Natura and Avon confirm deal talks at Reuters. “In the discussions, that have been ongoing for some months, Natura would buy Avon’s now private North American business, in addition to the London-headquartered publicly traded Avon, the source added.”Read more

Dillard’s CEO at last weekends annual company meeting: “Our job is to be open next year. We’re going to be one of the leaders and still get to play tomorrow.”Read more

Home Depot Is Betting That America’s Miserable Movers Will Make Good Customers by Robert Klara at Adweek. “Home Depot has set up a mover’s landing page,and select stores have scheduled live workshops to teach attendees how to change those locks (and patch those walls, and apply til, and put down new flooring, etc.). The retailer has also dispatched some of its popular influencers to the workshops to bring the smarts to a broader audience.”Tiered subs.

…Home Depot is doubling down on tool rentals in a bid to win over pro builders by Aine Cain at Business Insider. “…several years ago, only about one out of 10 pros rented from us,” Home Depot CEO Craig Minear told investors…”Today, that number has improved to one out of four, yet there remains opportunity for further growth as we continue to invest in our tool rental experience.” Read more

PVH Corp. Names Stefan Larsson to Newly Created Role of President “Mr. Larsson was most recently Chief Executive Officer of Ralph Lauren Corp.”Press release

Costco Will Reportedly Stop Selling Roundup by Eric Todisco at People. “…according to Zen Honeycutt, the founder of Moms Across America who created a petition for the big box store to stop selling Roundup…“I called the headquarters, and after two days of messages and calls, I did finally confirm with three people that Costco was not ordering Roundup or any glyphosate-based herbicides for the incoming spring shipments,” she wrote.”Read more